Support

A cookie is a piece of data stored by your browser or device that helps websites like this one recognize return visitors. We use cookies to give you the best experience on BNA.com. Some cookies are also necessary for the technical operation of our website. If you continue browsing, you agree to this site’s use of cookies.

Events

Bloomberg Next marketing services allow clients to elevate their brands and extend their reach through our established and trusted expertise, enhanced with engaging event production, appealing design, and compelling messaging.

Third Circuit Judge
Michael A. Chagares was appointed chief of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules in April and has
“jumped in with both feet,”
he told Bloomberg BNA.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. named Chagares to replace Justice Neil M. Gorsuch,
who stepped down as chair once he was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in April.

Chagares said he wants to push for making appellate practice more efficient and consistent
with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1, which calls for the “just, speedy and inexpensive
determination of every action.”

He has served on the Third Circuit since he was nominated by President George W. Bush
and confirmed by the Senate in 2006. Before that, he worked in private practice and
served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall School of Law, Newark, N.J.

Spencer teaches civil procedure at the University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville,
Va., including an advanced course that focuses on the rulemaking process.

It’s “amazing” to have the chance to become a part of something I focus on, he told
Bloomberg BNA.

Spencer has been at the University of Virginia since 2014. Before that, he taught
at Washington and Lee University School of Law and the University of Richmond School
of Law. He also clerked for Judge Judith W. Rogers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit.

Fair System

Spencer’s three-year term begins Oct. 1 and he anticipates he will evaluate proposals
for civil rules amendments “with an eye to what’s fair and efficient for all sides,”
he said.

Civil procedure is so important for ensuring a fair system because it’s what makes
the law real, Spencer said.

“The law is just words and you have to have the procedure to implement it,” he said.

Spencer’s professional focus is the extent to which reforms affect access to the courts,
he told Bloomberg BNA.

The balance “is off” right now and “a lot of threshold obstacles are being placed
in the path of plaintiffs,”
Spencer said.

However, if the system were tilted in favor of plaintiffs “too greatly,” he would
criticize that.

“I’m not on a side” and can meet people in the middle, Spencer said.

No ‘Willy Nilly’

Chagares said that making rules is “challenging work.”

He wants to be sure that everyone “weighs in and is heard and feels like they’ve been
heard” at the appellate rules meetings over which he presides.

There are rules out there that people have been applying “for years and years,” so
we don’t want to “willy nilly” go out and change things for the sake of changing,
Chagares said.

The point is to do something “practical, that makes sense and makes everyone’s life
easier,” and that promotes the goals of Rule 1, he said.

One way Chagares, as chair, believes he can help with this mission is to coordinate
with the other rules committees to have a consistent set of rules.

All the rules committees should be “on the same page” so that, for example, a word
has the same meaning throughout all the rules, Chagares said. The other rules committees
are the advisory committees on bankruptcy, civil, criminal, and evidence rules.

Differing Perspectives

Spencer said the committee can’t “have a role as a crusader” because it’s the passive
recipient of rule proposals.

Committee decisions are consensus-based, he said.

However, the civil rules committee is dominated by federal judges who “are institutionally
small ‘c’
conservative,” Spencer said.

Of the 14 members, 9 are federal judges.

They have their own priorities that “don’t necessarily accord with more radical proposals,”
he said.

As a consequence of this composition, “I imagine there’s a lot of deference” from
the non-judges and “you have to pick your own battles,” Spencer said.

Chagares views the membership on his committee in a different light.

Part of the “beauty of the system”
is the job diversity of the committee members, Chagares said.

The appellate rules committee consists of 8 members, with three judges, three attorneys,
and two professors.

There is “a lot of intellectual firepower,”
Chagares says of the members of the appellate rules committee.

“I’m leading an incredibly smart, dedicated, and practical group” through the continuous,
“careful”
study of the appellate rules, he said.

Unexpected Honors

Spencer said he didn’t know he was being considered for the rules committee until
he received the phone call in May.

Chagares has been a member of the committee for six years but had no idea he was to
become chair.

“It was a surprise,” and a “great honor,” Chagares said.

“I love it! I love rules work,”
he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Melissa Heelan Stanzione in Washington at
mstanzione@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jessie Kokrda Kamens at
jkamens@bna.com

All Bloomberg BNA treatises are available on standing order, which ensures you will always receive the most current edition of the book or supplement of the title you have ordered from Bloomberg BNA’s book division. As soon as a new supplement or edition is published (usually annually) for a title you’ve previously purchased and requested to be placed on standing order, we’ll ship it to you to review for 30 days without any obligation. During this period, you can either (a) honor the invoice and receive a 5% discount (in addition to any other discounts you may qualify for) off the then-current price of the update, plus shipping and handling or (b) return the book(s), in which case, your invoice will be cancelled upon receipt of the book(s). Call us for a prepaid UPS label for your return. It’s as simple and easy as that. Most importantly, standing orders mean you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you’re relying on. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.960.1220 or by sending an email to books@bna.com.

Put me on standing order at a 5% discount off list price of all future updates, in addition to any other discounts I may quality for. (Returnable within 30 days.)

Notify me when updates are available (No standing order will be created).

This Bloomberg BNA report is available on standing order, which ensures you will all receive the latest edition. This report is updated annually and we will send you the latest edition once it has been published. By signing up for standing order you will never have to worry about the timeliness of the information you need. And, you may discontinue standing orders at any time by contacting us at 1.800.372.1033, option 5, or by sending us an email to research@bna.com.

Put me on standing order

Notify me when new releases are available (no standing order will be created)